Quaire



(Specimens.)

J.l MAQUAIRB PIBROUS MATERIAL.

No. 606,067. Patented June 21,1898.

171,1]6 lzor.

UNrrEn STATES JULES AMEDEE MAQUAIEE, or PARIS, FRANCE.

FIBROUS MATERIAL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 606,067, dated June 21,1898.

Application led December 3, 1896. Serial No. 614,348. (Specimens.)Patented in France February 14,1896,No. 253,979; in Belgium February15,1896,No.119,849, and in England February 17, 1896,1T0. 3,533.

To @ZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JULES AMEDE MA- QUAIRE, of the city of Paris,France, have invented an Improved Fibrous Material, (for which I haveobtained Letters Patent in France for fifteen years, dated February 14.,1896, No. 253, 979; in Belgium for fifteen years, dated February 15,1896, No. 119,849, and in England for fourteen years, dated February 17,1896, No. 3,533,) of which the followingis a full, clear, and exactdescription.

My invention relates to an improved fibrous material, which I call bythe name of eucalyptus Wool or Wadding, and to the process of producingthe same. The said fibrous material is obtained by the treatment andutilization of the bers of a well-known plant of the llfyrfacece familydesignated under the generic name of eucalyptus Figure 1 is a side view,partly in section, of an apparatus for restoring to the fabric certainingredients whichare lost in the baths. Fig. 2 is a plan View of partyof Fig. 1.

The eucalyptus are woody plants whichl often grow to great heights randof. which the leaves, the liber, and the tissues contain fibers capableof being brought into the filamentous condition. These eucalyptus fibersthus treated and rendered capable of being utilized in spinning andweaving, as well as for other industrial applications, form the improvedmaterial which is the main feature of the present invention.

Although the eucalyptus fibers can be treated by all the processesgenerally used for the conversion of ligneous fibers into teX- tilethreads, I prefer to work according to the following process, whichbettersuits theirspecial nature.

The parts of the plant to be used are first allowed to soak for aboutfifteen to twenty hours in a bath of lukewarm water. They are thenheated in a boiler or in a keir, the temperature being raisedprogressively by 10O every half-hour until 120O is reached, which bringsthe total duration'of this operation up to about five hours. The fibrousmass is then rolled and brought into the form of very thin ribbons orstrips, then washed in a 5o five-pencent. bath of carbonate of 'sodaorin any other equivalent alkaline bath. The fibers are then beaten andafterward thoroughly Washed with water, again beaten andv placed fortwenty-four hours in a bath of lukewarm water, to 'which have been addedten per cent. of hydrochloric acid and one per cent. of ammoniumchlorid, (sal-ammoniac.) AIn place of the hydrochloric acid andsal-ammoniac I can employ any other acid and any othersuit'- ableammoniacal salt or alkali salt. After this treatment the mass issubjected to a washing with resin soap, then to a washing with plenty ofWater, which will free itfrom all free and soluble bodies. Afterward thefibers are dried, scutched, and stripped, and when thoroughly dry areready for the carders to make Wool or Wadding. y

In order to make up for' the loss of useful principles resulting in thetreatment which the fibrous matter undergoes, the resins collected inthe course of this treatment are restored to the wadding in thefollowing manner: The residue from the treatment of the pregnated. Thesteam lwhich escapes through ,theY mouthpiece of each of these tubes cproduces aspiration in each of the corresponding vertical tubes b, sothat the resins, tars, essences, &c., in the receiver a rise into thetubes b and are projected upon the tissue e by the steam-jets escapingfrom the extremity of the horizontall tubes-o. The tissue to be'impregnated is rolled up on the drum f. It

descends in vertical direction to the tubes c, passes lon roller g, andfinally rolls upon arbor h, which has a crank t. Turning the latterslowly the progression of the tissue is obtained, and in that manner thewhole surface of the same will be impregnated with resins.

The eucalyptus threads thus brought to the condition of textile fibersform, as I have said,

IOO

an improved fibrous material which can .be

used either as such in the manufacture of all objects into which Wool orWadding enters, or

it can be utilized in any other desired manner.

For instance, my improved material can serve for the manufacture of allkinds of felt or be i spun so as to make pure eucalyptus yarn, or

mixed yarn,by ad mixtu re with other textiles* i such as iiaX, hemp,silk, ramie, Wool, cotton, i or the like. These pure or mixed yarns canbe used alone or serve in the manufacture of all fabrics or knittedgoods, either alone or; in combination with any other kinds of teX- xtile threads. In any case the products ob-i tained by the application ofeucalyptus Wool or Wadding possess all the hygienic and absorbentproperties of the material of which they are composed, and they remainin a good condition for a very long time by reason of theimputrescibility of this material.

I claim- The `herein-described process consisting in taking the fibrousparts of the eucalyptus plant, subjecting the same to a bath of tepidWater, heating to the point of ebullition, then subjecting the materialto the action of an alkaline bath, an acid-bath, and a soap-bath, andthen restoring the essential principles which have been removed from theiiber in the several baths as the resins by applying the same to thebers, substantially as described.

The foregoing specieation of my manufacture of an improved iibrousmaterial signed by me this 17th day of November, 1896.

JULns AMEDE MAQUAmE.

Witnesses:

EDWARD P. MAGLEAN, ALBERT' MOREAU.

